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Philippines, 18 May 2024 |
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EXPECT ANOTHER ROUND By Sev Sarmenta PhilBoxing.com Fri, 11 May 2007  The joy and thrill of sports is having an opinion. I forget now who said this line. But it rings loud and true before and after a sporting event. Every one views a sporting event differently. Some are experts, others are fans, a few are armchair coaches while others are viewers who just happened to catch the event on TV or was fortunate to have tickets for the event. Others are passionately involved because flag and country are involved. If there’s a knockout, the discussion is more on how great the winner was and how incapable the loser was. A stoppage because of a head butt is a disappointment especially if both fighters were throwing bombs at each other. But what really gets fans going is a fight that gets decided by the judges. And if the decision is not clear and then it really gets fans off to a spirited if not heated discussion. The De La Hoya-Mayweather showdown at the MGM Grand Garden is a classic example of a battle that still has fight fans talking. On the way out of the Garden Arena, people were still jabbing about who really won. Some were restrained while others were vocal about their opinions. Some were thrilled by the big event, others were disappointed that the fight had no knockdowns or failed to cause any damage on either fighter. A vital factor in fashioning out an opinion is undoubtedly perspective. TV or movie house viewers have the benefit of camera angles and slow mo replays. The journalists and experts can take a look at the punch count and others statistics to form their total view. Fans in the venues have their vantage points. The three judges who pass their judgment on a fight are positioned in three ringside areas. Each one can look at the progress of the fight differently. They do not have the benefit of the punch count to form their score after each round that is collected by the referee immediately after the round. Mayweather, did just enough to win it, especially in the last two rounds. There is no question that de la Hoya was the aggressor. From my perspective, he won the fight slightly. But two of the three judges who covered three different ringside areas saw it differently. And this very split decision has created the lively discussion that has everybody talking. In the post fight interview with Larry Merchant, Mayweather declared that he was the better fighter that night. However, Merchant pointed out to the pound for pound star that if that was so why was the decision split. And perhaps there lies the catapult for the second round of what could be a new boxing trilogy. As long as fans and even perhaps experts are split in their opinions, there will be a continuing saga of De La Hoya and Mayweather. So the amount of discussion on The World Awaits main event will continue for a while and then most likely when The World Awaits II happens (I’m sure Golden Boy Promotions, which broke new ground in the way a fight should be promoted, will come up with a new and enticing title). Both fighters declared before the fight that there would be no rematch since both were retiring (which more often than not never really happens). There is reason to believe however that there will be a second installment, and maybe even a third. As long as the money is right and the fans remain unsatisfied as to who really won this first battle, there should be another round. Again, the world waits. 
Sev Sarmenta PhilBoxing.com would like to welcome Sev Sarmenta to its fold of outstanding contributors. Sev Sarmenta has become a fixture of Philippine sports media coverage anchoring countless television coverages of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) games as well as anchoring the long-running local boxing show "In This Corner." Sarmenta covered for ABS-CBN Television Network the blockbuster De la Hoya vs Mayweather showdown "The World Awaits" where Filipino rising stars Rey "Boom Boom" Bautista and AJ Banal fought in the undercards. Click here to view a list of other articles written by Sev Sarmenta.  |
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